


happy hauntings

by sebastian2017



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Matt Murdock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24084052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastian2017/pseuds/sebastian2017
Summary: Frank has nightmares, but Matt thinks the worst mornings are after he's had sweet dreams.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44
Collections: MCU RarePairs Bingo 2019





	happy hauntings

**Author's Note:**

> cw: nightmares, mention of offscreen violence
> 
> fill for square 'The Punisher' of the MCU rarepair bingo

Frank's nightmares are a terrible thing. Matt's gotten to experience them up close and personal and it never ends up going well. Matt's lost track of the times he's woken up to Frank's screaming and thrashing or the times he's wound up with bruises from trying to calm him down. Frank always apologizes to hell and back when it happens, but Matt gets it. He has his share of nightmares too. 

He'd known what he was signing up for when he started not just dating, but also cohabitating with Frank Castle. Nightmares were probably the mildest inconvenience of life with Frank. He'd prepared himself for it long before Frank started moving in. Besides, as Matt would learn after Frank got settled into the house, nightmares weren't the worst thing that came from Frank sleeping in the same bed as him. 

No, the worst nights, without a doubt, were when Frank would wake up peacefully and, for even the briefest of moments, forget everything that had happened since he came home. Everything that had taken his family away from him. Matt knows, of course, that hearts don't really break, but he's sure he can hear Frank's shattering every morning he wakes up and realizes his family isn't there anymore. 

Matt's come to recognize the signs when it's coming. He can always tell whether Frank's had a good night or not, before he's even awake. It's somewhat of a necessity to avoid getting punched in the face when Frank wakes up mid fight or flight instinct. Or, on the days he wakes up hurting, because Matt likes to do his part to make him feel better, no matter how small. Lately, the more nights Frank spends at Matt's place, the more the mornings are the type where he wakes up pained because he'd forgotten, however briefly, that his family isn't there anymore. 

Those mornings, Frank wakes up slowly. Not the sudden bolt to wake like during his nightmares. It's not entirely peaceful, though. Sometimes, he still has dreams of his time at war during those nights. It's just that instead of waking up trying to fight them, he starts tossing and turning, reaching out for a wife who's no longer there. Matt's a light sleeper. It's hard not to be with his senses. So whenever he wakes to Frank like this, he gets up off their bed and leaves to the kitchen, because he's learned it's more painful for Frank to wake up with a stranger in bed than to find no one there. 

He goes and he makes Frank's favorite type of coffee, so he can pour it out into his favorite mug, and go wake him with it and pastries. And he sits at the side of the bed and reaches to pet Frank's short hair and ease him awake, until Frank always inevitably stills and starts squinting his eyes open. He never reaches for the offered cup of coffee first. No, he always reaches over to the empty spot in bed next to him, searching for his wife. 

"Maria?" he always mumbles. And without fail, Matt can always spot the exact moment Frank remembers, when his whole body sags and his heart shatters once more. 

"No. It's just me, Frank. Sorry," Matt will mumble, pressing the coffee into his hands and leaning down to kiss his forehead briefly. 

And always, Frank will accept it with a grunted thanks, give himself the rare luxury of a breakfast in bed, then get up to deal with the rest of the day as though nothing's ever happened. Matt's grown depressingly used to this routine of theirs. Eventually, Frank will go shower and disappear for the rest of the day, probably alternating between wandering through his family's old spots and hunting down any criminal who happens to pop up during the daytime. 

All while Matt waits at home, hoping that this day will be different and they'll talk or simply feel and that Frank can set himself down some sort of path towards healing. But he knows it's not going to happen anytime soon. Because if there's one person the Punisher is especially good at punishing, it's himself. Matt is just there to help clean up the pieces afterward. 


End file.
